Kinder Scout (1) Wellington Memorial

On the night of 30/31 July 1941, No. 150 Squadron at RAF Snaith was ordered to provide eight Wellington bombers for a raid on Cologne. The weather in England that night was poor, with low cloud and rain. Wellington W5719 was the first aircraft to take off, departing at 23:25. The crew was unable to find the target in cloud-covered Germany and aborted the mission, returning towards RAF Snaith with their bomb load still aboard. In the murky conditions over England, the Wellington overshot its base in Yorkshire and continued westward towards the Pennines. At approximately 04:05, still in cloud and misjudging their altitude -- the crew believed they were still 2,000 feet above sea level -- the aircraft flew into the steeply rising ground on the northern side of Grindsbrook Clough, near Upper Tor on Kinder Scout. The crash was catastrophic. The bomber's unexpended bombs exploded on impact, killing five of the six crew instantly. However, in a remarkable stroke of fortune, rear gunner Sergeant Earl Tilley survived -- his tail turret was torn free from the fuselage by the force of the explosion and flung into Grindsbrook Clough. Injured but alive, Tilley was able to extricate himself and make his way down to the village of Edale to raise the alarm.